See what you mean about reblogging Mike…. I haven’t been able to reblog any of your posts, so have been copying and pasting. I apologise in advance if I’ve forgotten to state that any of my posts were reblogged from yours.

When I was first hit by Bedroom Tax last year, I had to ask for a foodbank voucher. Although I was given help, I was told that my voucher was a “one-off” and that vouchers were supposed to be issued only to claimants who had been sanctioned. The staff also told me that foodbank vouchers were limited to a maximum of three consecutive vouchers, each providing three days’ supply of food, three times a year for each claimant. I don’t know if the rules have changed since, but there have recently been a lot of reports about doctors getting a lot of foodbank voucher requests from hungry patients. Whether this is because Jobcentres have refused to issue vouchers is not clear, but that’s probably the reason in some cases.

I’ve been to a few meetings about organising food banks, and the criteria you describe were certainly active at one point. However, there is also the matter of discretion – people in authority can provide vouchers to those they consider to be at extra risk (I think)… and the growth of the problem makes it likely that the rules have been loosened by now, in any case.